Research tells us that Dementia Friendly Communities help people impacted by dementia and their caregivers feel included, safe and supported in the places where they work, live and socialize. Through community outreach initiatives, groups, businesses and individuals are educated about dementia and know that a person with dementia may sometimes experience the world differently.

A Guide to Creating Dementia Friendly Communities in Alberta

This guide is the culmination of a two-and-a-half-year pilot project in Alberta led by The Brenda Strafford Foundation. 

Working in partnership with local members of the pilot communities, education and training opportunities have been offered to help first responders, local businesses, and organizations better understand, recognize and respond to signs of dementia to better support the needs of those they serve. Schools are exploring ways to educate students throughout the curriculum and create intergenerational opportunities to engage with seniors in the community. Faith centres, community associations, and many other non-profit and public service organizations are ensuring supports and resources are mobilized and accessible in the community.

The Brenda Strafford Foundation have documented our journey, and lessons learned along the way, to create this guide as a locally sensitive, evidence-based approach for the development of Dementia Friendly Communities throughout the province. The resource provides localized information and best practices that individuals, businesses and civil society organizations can use to ensure their communities are dementia friendly.

dementiafriendlyalberta.ca

Proof of Concept Project

The Brenda Strafford Foundation is leading the Dementia Friendly Communities demonstration project – the first in Alberta – in two pilot locations:

• The Calgary Westhills neighbourhoods of Signal Hill, Strathcona, Christie Park and Aspen
• The Town of Okotoks

These communities were chosen due to the proximity to two of BSF’s continuing care facilities, Wentworth Manor and Tudor Manor, to leverage our existing expertise and networks in these communities. In addition to proximity to our established seniors care facilities, these two communities were chosen as they are also very different from each other – one is urban, while the other is semi-rural. Therefore, it is expected there will be commonalities but also some differences between these two communities during the project.

The initial project will run for a period of two and a half years, with a long range goal to become sustainable and grow city and province-wide.

Year One Impact Report

News & Events

Visit The Brenda Strafford Foundation's online News Archive and Events Calendar to find out more about our Dementia Friendly Communities news and events taking place in the community.

News Archive  Events Calendar

Dementia Friendly Community Collaborations

The Brenda Strafford Foundation has partnered with local community members and organizations to form Dementia Friendly Community collaborative groups in the Calgary Westhills and Okotoks communities. These collaborative groups are composed of diverse community stakeholders to ensure the local approach is community sensitive, and they are driving the initiative forward at the community level.